On Bradley and backpacks. And, umm, George.

Over on Kristi Gustafson Barlette’s On the Edge blog, folks are mulling the mystery of Bradley Cooper’s backpack: What was he carrying in that thing at the “Place Behind The Pines” premiere in downtown Schenectady last night?

Kristi’s commenters have their theories (a parachute; some socks), but movies and TV offer a few hints, too.

My first thought, given Cooper’s adenoidal-slacker choice of clothing, was the “Back to the Future” franchise, in which Marty McFly and his trusty backpack took on the space-time continuum. At one point, the kid carried around a sports almanac that wound up warping the timeline.

We must, therefore, consider the possibility that Cooper dropped in from the future with a backpack full of 2083 vintage knick-knacks. It could happen.

Or perhaps he’s more like the rucksack-lugging Clark Kent on “Smallville,” who used to haul around books and, as the series wore on, a bright red jacket. Think about it: Cooper wore a blue one last night. Doesn’t that suggest that a red one was stashed in his bag somewhere, all balled up, maybe a little moldy? Couldn’t it be that Bradley Cooper is actually an angst-stricken double-identitied superhero?

Fans of Pokémon, assuming they still exist (go ahead and sic Pikachu on me now), know that Ash carried a knapsack packed by his mom. It contained pajamas, among other things. Some food. Other stuff necessary for sudden combat with brightly colored two-dimensional monsters.

The 1998 movie “Can’t Hardly Wait” was a sex comedy, so you can guess what sorts of trinkets occupied Seth Green’s bag.

On “Terra Nova,” the dad used a backpack to smuggle his daughter into the Cretaceous period (long story). Was Bradley sneaking a kid sister into the festivities?

Finally, George Clooney. If you know me, you know I can always find a way to wedge George Clooney into any conversation, and here is a natural place to bring up the “What’s in your backpack?” scene from “Up in the Air.” Remember it? Remember how Clooney’s character, a seemingly blithe, constantly traveling corporate hatchet-man, gave that “self help” lecture about stripping oneself of burdens? “The slower we move, the faster we die,” he said.